


Alpha Spectrum (Book 1: Descendants Arisen)

by xXeimiXx



Series: Alpha Spectrum [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21536536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXeimiXx/pseuds/xXeimiXx
Summary: Six relic descendants and five guardians, all destined to protect their realm from a dangerous foe that threatens to destroy reality at the seams.
Series: Alpha Spectrum [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552108
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

“Are you sure this is going to work, Iris?” the Guardian of Destruction spoke as he approached the Guardian of Creation. “What will we do if we fail and Inanis finds us?” 

“Then we will have to hope that the Six Relics will find new hosts, Ein,” Iris said, fighting back tears. She was scared of failing. If Inanis captured her and the other four Guardians, then the world would be vulnerable to Inanis and her unpredictable, new form. “We have to trust that the Relics will continue to seek out hosts, even  _ when _ we are gone.” 

It had been a hundred decades since the void had gained a physical form of her own. The Five Guardians had done all that they could to fight her off, but they were quickly running out of options. 

Estell, the Guardian of Positivity, could only do so much to keep up the hopes of the mortal beings of the world. The same went for Jay, the Guardian of Negativity, who made sure that any and all fear would not attract Inanis’s minions, the Voicends. If they managed to get past the Five Guardians and attack even a single village, the hopes of every mortal would be crushed and the world would crumble to nothing, giving Inanis her long-awaited victory. 

The Six Relics had no hosts for the past fifty decades and the Five Guardians were losing hope of ever winning the war against Inanis. Without the Six Relics, they were susceptible to being captured by Inanis. 

“Iris,” Corrin, the Guardian of Balance, walked into the room. “She is here.” 

Iris took in a slow, deep breath. It was finally time for them to make their final attempt to defeat Inanis and banish her back to her realm. But if they failed… then they would be trapped inside inanimate objects until the Six Relics freed them by finding each of the Guardians’ Realms. 

Iris picked up her large fountain pen, the Pen of Creation, and gripped it tightly. Ein stood in front of her faithfully, his mechanical sword sheathed behind him. 

“It is not too late to retreat,” Ein spoke softly to her. “We can find another way to defeat Inanis.” 

“No, Ein. We have to do this. For the sake of everyone,” Iris declared strongly. She was not about to let the presence of Inanis scare her into retreat. Not if it meant losing everything they had fought for. 


	2. Kris

Kris stood in the middle of the clearing surrounded by woods. He gripped the hilt of his silver broadsword tightly as he closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of nature around him, checking for anything irregular or unnatural in the area. 

The sound of a twig snapping caught his attention and he spun around, unsheathing his sword in a blur of movement. His sword clashed with the bone-like claw of a dark creature. Its glowing yellow eyes stared down at Kris with fury. 

_ Dammit, it’s another Voicend! _ Kris thought with dread. If Kris didn’t take it out in time, then the entire Kingdom would be in danger of a horde of Voicends. 

Kris’s eyes widened when the werewolf-like Voicend—a Luabyss—grabbed his sword. His ironclad grip on it kept him from losing his weapon, but that left him to be flung around like a ragdoll—which is exactly what the Luabyss did. 

He forced himself to drop onto the back of the creature and yanked his sword out of the Luabyss’s claws, digging the blade into its back. 

It let out a howl of pain, its body jerking back suddenly and tossing Kris onto the ground. He quickly rolled and crouched down to dodge an attack. He took one look at his sword and knew he had to find another way to defeat the Luabyss. The topmost part of his sword was broken off entirely. He looked up at the Luabyss to see the other half of his sword stuck in its back. 

“ _ Fantastic, _ ” he muttered to himself sarcastically, sheathing the sword and darting to the side to avoid another attack from the Luabyss. 

He glanced around in a desperate attempt to find anything he could use as a weapon. He spotted a rock lying on the ground near him and rushed over, picking it up. If he could use it to break off one of the claws, he could use the claw to kill it. 

The Luabyss’s paw came flying towards him and he bashed the rock against one of the claws as hard as he could while jumping up to avoid getting hit by it. The claw was broken off from the paw of the creature just enough for Kris to kick it off. 

He jumped off of the creature’s arm and picked up the claw, having to do a backflip to avoid a swipe from the Voicend’s fit of agony. 

He shot under the belly of the Luabyss like a bullet and dragged its own claw down its stomach. He scrambled forward to a stop, spinning around just in time to see luminescent yellow liquid gushed from the wounds Kris had inflicted and it collapsed to the ground, its shadow-y form dissipating seconds later. 

Kris breathed heavily, dropping the claw and relaxing. He winced, feeling a wave of pain travel up his right arm. He knew what it was, though, so he didn’t bother to check for any injuries. 

He decided to head back to headquarters. His patrol was over after all, and, much to his relief, he didn’t encounter more Voicends along the way. He’d much rather avoid having to take down more than one during the same patrol. 

“Welcome back, General Fox,” a man greeted Kris when he entered headquarters. 

“Thank you, Commander Lycan,” Kris replied. 

“Did you encounter any Voicends on your patrol?” C.Lycan asked. 

“Only one; a Luabyss,” Kris responded, unsheathing his sword to reveal the Luabyss’s blood that stained the broken blade. 

Luabi were the most common species of Voicend. There were many different types, all incredibly dangerous if given the right circumstances. It was up to the Royal Guard to patrol the area around and inside the Xaravian kingdom to keep a lookout for any Voicends. 

The Royal Guard was assembled by the Iromas, the rulers of the Xaravian kingdom. Their job was to protect the kingdom from any and all threats that come. Kris was anointed as the General, the highest ranking in the Guard, after his father’s death two years back. 

… 

_ “Don’t take your eyes off them, Kris! They’re vicious creatures—they’re not going to let you run away so easily,” Kris’s father exclaimed in a frenzy as a group of three Luabi surrounded them.  _

_ Kris was trembling, unable to keep a proper hold on his sword. He looked over at his father, surprised to see how calm and collected he looked, despite the situation they were in.  _

_ He forced himself to calm down and readjusted his grip and stance just in time to block the claws of one of the Luabi. He countered the attack and dragged his sword down the exposed belly of the Voidcend, turning around to see his father finish off the last one, already having dealt with the other.  _

_ Kris relaxed his tense muscles, only to instantly regret it when another type of Voicend entered the area.  _

_ It was an Ibavoi, the bear species of Voicend. This one was much larger than the others they encountered before, and Kris and his father had just put huge targets on their backs by killing the three Luabi.  _

_ It seemed like the fight went on for ages before the Ibavoi dealt a solid blow to Kris’s father.  _

_ “DAD!!” Kris cried out. His father’s head cracked against a rock, his body going limp in an instant. Kris was filled with rage at the sight, blindly throwing himself at the Voicend and decapitating it.  _

_ He didn’t notice it back then, but when he had attacked the Ibavoi, a red line traced his attack. Only when he had snapped back to reality had he seen the unnatural red marking that covered most of his right hand.  _

… 

“General Fox?” C. Lycan snapped Kris out of the memory. “Are you okay?” 

Kris sighed, shaking his head slightly, “Y-yeah. I must’ve zoned out for a second. Sorry about that, Commander.” 

“It happens to the best of us,” C.Lycan chuckled lightly. “You should go visit the smithy and do something about your sword. Maybe Rouge can even make you a new weapon.” 

“Right…” Kris felt ashamed of himself. That sword was given to him by his father… and he had broken it in a battle against a common Voicend. 

No. He couldn’t let that stop him from continuing his duty as General of the Royal Guard. In fact, he would get a  _ new  _ weapon. Something completely different from his sword. Something that would show everyone that he was finally moving on from the death of his father. 

Kris bid his farewells and decided to make a stop at his house before heading to the blacksmith. 

He unlocked the front door to his house, opening it up to be tackled to the ground by his little brother and sister, Aaron and Cara. 

“Whoa, hey, you two!” Kris laughed lightly. He gently patted their heads, smiling at them. Seeing his brother and sister was something he always looked forward to after work. 

The two of them stood up and dragged Kris inside and bombarded him with questions. 

“How come you’re home early?” 

“Did something happen?” 

“Did you see a Voicend?!” 

“How big was it?!” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down! I’m only here to get changed before I head to the blacksmith,” he explained. 

“Can we go with you?” they both pleaded together. Kris was immediately thrown for a loop, unsure of what to say. 

Aaron was hotheaded and never really thought ahead. He tended to resort to violence to solve his problems and didn’t like other people except for Kris and Cara. He was extremely adventurous and got into mischief with Cara on an almost daily basis. 

Cara, on the other hand, was gentle and loving. She chose to be kind to everyone, even if they were trying to hurt her. She loved exploring and discovering new things, getting wrapped up in all sorts of adventures with Aaron whenever the two of them could get out of the house. Which was often, since Kris wasn’t home most of the time. 

Kris didn’t approve of them exploring so much, especially since they had the horrible habit of going out into the woods to have their adventures. He was worried that a Voicend would get them and he’d lose them just like he had lost their father… 

If he brought them to the blacksmith with him, then he’d be able to keep an eye on them. 

“Okay, you two can come. But you better stay out of trouble! And don’t bother Rouge too much, alright?” Kris caved. They both nodded furiously. “Go get properly dressed. We’ll head out once we’re all ready.” 

Not much later, the three of them were making their way to the blacksmith. Kris was relieved to see that they were actually behaving themselves, rather than running off the moment they saw anything even remotely interesting to them. 

Kris opened up the door to the blacksmith shop to find that no customers were occupying the place, which was a surprise to him since Rouge was the best smithy around. No one could beat her prices and genius weapon designs. 

“Ah, General! I haven’t seen you here in a while,” Rouge greeted from the front desk. 

Before Kris could respond, Aaron and Cara rushed inside and began exploring the place. He groaned in frustration, ready to go after them and scold them for not listening. 

“Don’t worry about it, Kris. If anything, this’ll teach them a lesson to not mess around with sharp objects,” Rouge joked. Kris frowned. He didn’t like her joking about his siblings getting hurt. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Kjield is here, so he’ll make sure that the kids don’t get into any trouble.” 

“That’s good,” Kris sighed in relief. “Anyway, I have a favor to ask of you.” 

“Sure, what is it?” 

Kris explained to her what had happened to his sword and that he was in need of a new weapon. She was ecstatic to hear that from him and had rushed to the back of her shop to grab the weapon. She had said that she had made a weapon the previous week and was waiting for the perfect person to take ownership of it. Kris didn’t want to upset her, so he agreed to test it out. 

Rouge came back with a unique looking weapon, nothing like had ever seen before. It was akin to a katana, but after some demonstration, it turned out to be a mix of different weapons. It was a katana, cleaver, and what was called a kusarigama. It had been made out of the same material Rouge had used to make his armored shirt and pants, extremely durable. Rouge called it a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe. Kris thought it was too long, so he nicknamed it Armorin. 

Kris decided that he would take the next patrol to test out his new weapon. 

Rouge offered to watch over Aaron and Cara for him, so that was one less thing for him to worry about. Kris just hoped that he would be able to take over someone’s patrol. 

**O O O**

“Whoa, your new weapon looks so cool!!” a trainee squealed, her eyes sparkling. 

“Dude, you’re so lucky! I wish  _ I  _ had a weapon like that,” a swordsman chimed in. 

“Man, that makes me want to switch to a melee weapon,” one of the archers breathed in awe. 

“I can’t believe Rouge just  _ gave _ that to you,” C.Lycan marvelled at the weapon. 

“Yeah, me either,” Kris looked down at the weapon, tuning out the voices of all of the people in the room.  _ I’ll make you proud, Dad. I promise.  _

Kris pushed past the crowd without saying a word, ready to start his patrol. For the very first time, he was actually  _ wanting _ to encounter a Voicend. Just from having a new weapon he felt like he could take down any Voicend, even Inanis herself. 

It wasn’t very long before he encountered a Voicend in the open fields past the forest. It was an Accipiter, the hawk species. He glanced down at his new weapon, and pressed the button on the side. A black, ribbon-like line shot out from the side of the hilt, wrapping around the Accipiter. A second press of the button pulled Kris towards the now-aggravated Voicend. 

He took the weapon out of its sheath and slashed at the Accipiter. It cried out in agony, throwing Kris off its back. Kris gasped, throwing himself back and landing on a branch of a nearby tree. The impact stunned him for a moment, but he quickly regained focus and returned to the ground. 

He halted to a stop when he saw the Accipiter making a dive for him. 

…

And that’s when Kris made eye contact with it. 

Something resonated within him and he sliced the throat of the Accipiter when it reached him. A red line followed his attack; the same red line that had been there two years ago. 

The luminescent yellow blood sprayed onto the ground. The sight of it made Kris snap back to reality and he crumbled to the ground, tightly gripping his arm. He hastily rolled up his sleeve to find the red scar was  _ glowing _ . 

_ That…  _ can’t _ be good, _ Kris’s eyes widened. 

“General?!” C.Lycan came sprinting up to Kris in a panic. “What happened?!” 

Kris quickly pulled his sleeve back down to hide the red marking on his arm, grateful that he wore gloves to hide the anomaly. “I’m fine, Commander. Why are you here? Did something happen?” 

“The king wants to see you.” 


	3. Phantom

Phantom pulled her the hood of her black cloak over her head, making sure her satchel was secure before she went over to the window of her bedroom. 

She looked over her shoulder, stiffening when she heard a sound. 

_ No! You’re just being paranoid, Phantom!  _ She shook her head clear, opening up the window and climbing out. She carefully made her way down the wall, glancing around nervously before racing towards the city. She quickly traversed the city, avoiding the Royal Guard as much as she could. 

She sighed in relief when she entered the blacksmith, shutting the door behind her and pressing her back against the wood. She blinked a few times at the sound of two children’s laughter and jumped in surprise when two children, a boy, and a girl, came running into the shop. 

A man was chasing them with a smile on his face. He was tall, had turquoise-colored hair, hazel eyes, and was well toned. He wore a green camo jacket, gray army pants, a black t-shirt, and combat boots. 

The man skidded to a halt when he saw Phantom, the two children snickering from underneath a table. 

“Oh! Are you here to purchase something? I can get Rouge,” the man said to her. 

“No. I’m here to pick up my order,” Phantom said quietly, changing the octave of her voice to be a bit higher so she wouldn’t be recognized. “I gave it the name Lightrick.”

“Of course. I’ll go and fetch it for you. Do you want to pay now, or after you’ve tested the weapon?” 

“Rouge’s weapons are always a success. I’ll pay now,” Phantom smiled, though it couldn’t be seen due to the shadow being cast by her hood. She pulled out a pouch that contained the payment from her satchel and handed it to the man. 

He nodded, heading into the back and returning with Phantom’s new weapon. 

It was a sky blue bow with gold trimmings and engravings, and Phantom had asked for it to be able to split into two daggers. She was thrilled to finally be able to practice her combat skills with a weapon designed and skillfully crafted by none other than Rouge Wyveri herself! 

Phantom had never been allowed out of the castle her entire life. Being a princess meant 

“Thank you so much, I—” Phantom was cut off by two armored men who entered the room abrasively. They grabbed Phantom roughly, creating a sense of dread within the blonde girl. 

“You’re coming with us, Princess Phantom,” one of the guards said sternly. Phantom was grateful that she had managed to hide the bow beneath her cloak. If they had confiscated it, then there would have been no getting it back. “Your father won’t be happy about this.” 

The man stared at her, the two children hiding behind him as the guards escorted Phantom outside and back to the castle. She held her head low, debating on resisting, or facing whatever punishment her father had in store for her. 

_ I should have been more careful…  _ Phantom thought dejectedly, biting her lip. 

Another pair of guards opened up the entrance to the throne room, bowing respectfully to Phantom. She didn’t look up, not wanting to bear the sight of her father’s bound-to-be-disappointed look. 

“Phantom,” her father spoke sternly. She detected a scowl in his tone. “Explain to me why you were outside of the castle.” 

“I—” she choked on her words. “I just wanted to explore the city… That’s all. I didn’t—”

“You know very well that you are not allowed outside of the castle without your bodyguard!” he shouted, abruptly standing up, interrupting her. She dared to take a glance, screwing her eyes shut at the sight of her father’s infuriated expression. “What made you think that you could get away with this?!” 

Phantom didn’t answer. 

He continued to scold her—even the guards looked uneasy. Her guilt quickly turned to rage at his words, and she snapped at him. 

“Why can’t I just live a normal life like everyone else?!” she spat, glaring at him. 

“Because you are  _ not _ like everyone else! You are my  _ daughter! _ ” 

“Then I don’t  _ want _ to be your daughter!!” she felt hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She turned on her heel, sprinting out of the castle, ignoring the threatening cries of her father. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. 

Phantom didn’t realize how long she had been running for until she tripped over herself, hitting the ground with a loud thud. She sucked in a sharp breath, tensing all the muscles in her body at the impact, clenching her teeth so hard that she thought they might shatter. 

When her vision cleared, she saw that she was in the forest outside the city walls. She snuck a glance over her shoulder, a wave of dread hitting her when she saw how far she had run. The castle looked small, and there was no sign of life anywhere nearby—not even a path to lead her back to civilization. 

She stood up, hugging herself. 

“N-no need to be scared, Phantom. Y-you can—can find your way back. No problem!” she spoke to herself, nervously glancing around. She felt goosebumps forming on her arms, her heart beating hard and fast, her breathing irregular. 

She swallowed, taking a hesitant step forward, only to step on a twig that snapped loudly beneath her weight. She jumped back, startled. She hoped she hadn’t attracted anything… 

Phantom took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and forcing herself to continue walking. So long as the castle was still in view, she wouldn’t get lost… Right? 

She couldn’t have been farther from the truth. 

It didn’t take long for her to get lost. The abundant amount of trees made everything seem like an impossible maze and was already giving her a headache. She tried retracing her steps, only to remember that there were no steps to even  _ trace.  _ She was hopelessly lost. 

Phantom gripped her new weapon tightly for comfort, beginning to feel paranoid. The fact that she was alone in a highly dangerous area occupied by Voicends made her uneasy. One or more of those dark, malicious creatures could pounce and feast on her at any moment! Oh, how she wished she had her sister with her. 

Calling for help would be pointless; no one was around to hear her. There was no service, so her cell phone wouldn’t work either. (You’d be wrong to think that a kingdom wouldn’t be up-to-date with modern technology.) And there wasn’t any sort of path or tool to help her find her way back. 

The bushes behind her were disturbed, and she spun around, gripping her bow tightly. 

“Wh-who’s there…?! Show yourself!” she called out… No answer. 

Phantom slowly took a step back, only to collide with something large… and  _ alive. _ The feeling of it was akin to the scales of a snake, cold and rough— _ sharp _ even. 

She dared to look behind her, eyes widening with fear at the sight of an Entium—the snake species of Voicend—looming over her with dangerous, glowing yellow eyes. 

She threw herself forward to avoid the venomous fangs of the Entium. She pulled the two halves of her bow apart, revealing their newly sharpened blades. Running away was futile, considering the thing was  _ massive  _ and could catch up with her in an instant. The only option she had was to fight and hope that one of the Royal Guard was on patrol nearby and heard the Entium. 

The Entium let out a cry, its mouth diving for her. She gasped, ducking down, and stabbing its chin with her daggers. It jerked upwards, luminescent blood dripping onto Phantom. She scrambled away, readying her weapon in case it attacked. 

She blinked.  _ Where did it go? _

Phantom was suddenly smacked in the side by the tail of the Entium. It sent her crashing into a tree, the impact stunning her for a moment. She attempted to stand, only to be held back by a heavy branch trapping her leg. 

She felt tears run down her cheeks as she stared at the Entium that approached her slowly, most likely enjoying the fact that she was scared. 

“S-somebody… anybody… please help,” Phantom sobbed. “I don’t want to die—” 

Something resonated within her. Something  _ powerful. _

Suddenly, a flash of fire appeared in the sky above the Entium. The Voicend stopped, snapping its head in the direction of the light, only to be pinned to the ground by a large creature of fire. The Entium dissipated within seconds, signaling its death, and the victory of the fiery beast. 

Phantom was in disbelief; before her, in the flesh, was the Last Phoenix. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She thought that the creature was a myth! Just a legend! A story told to children when they were still naive and impressionable! There was no  _ way _ that the childish fairytale she had loved as a child was true! 

_ “Do you doubt what you see, young one?” _ a female voice spoke, sounding as if it were distant, yet close at the same time.  _ “I assure you, I am  _ very  _ real.” _

The realization that she almost died overwhelmed her. She broke down, tightly hugging herself. 

_ “Do not be afraid, young one. You are safe now,” _ the phoenix spoke softly, lifting the branch with her talons, gently tossing it aside. A flaming wing reached out for Phantom. She expected to be set aflame, only to find a comforting warmth that shouldn’t have come with the touch of the phoenix.  _ “My name is Anila. But you may call me whatever you like, young one. Do you mind sharing with me your name?” _

“…Phantom,” she replied, her voice quiet. 

_ “Let me promise you this, Phantom,” _ Anila seemed to smile at Phantom with her eyes.  _ “Should you ever be in a situation like this again, just recite this, and I will come to aid you.” _

_ “Καλώ το τελευταίο Φοίνικας να με βοηθήσει στην εποχή του διαμάχης. Σώστε με, Καρδιά της Φωτιάς, σας ρωτώ για μια ακόμη ευκαιρία στη ζωή.”  _

The words were familiar yet utterly foreign to her. She had never spoken Greek in her entire life, though she could recognize the language when she heard or saw it. 

“I… I’ll be sure to remember it,” Phantom smiled weakly. She felt tired, and it wasn’t long before darkness enveloped her. Anila’s warmth faded, leaving Phantom in a state of panic. 

Phantom bolted upright, breathing heavily. She frantically looked around, expecting to find herself in the forest. Instead, she found herself safe in her room. 

_ How did I…? _

She noticed a flame-colored feather on her bedside table. She reached out for it, gently grabbing the stem of it with her thumb and index finger. It felt warm… just like the warmth Anila had in the forest. 

“It  _ wasn’t _ a dream…” Phantom said aloud. She held the feather close to her chest, smiling. “Thank you, Anila.”


	4. Alice

“Don’t screw this up, you two,” Alice growled at her siblings, Devin and Lucia. “It was already hard enough as it is to get in, and I  _ don’t _ want the Royal Guard to catch us. Just map out the kingdom and we’ll meet up back home.” 

“Okaaay, we get it!” Lucia whined, rolling her eyes and huffing. 

“C’mon, Lu, we don’t want to make Ally more upset than she already is,” Devin patted Lucia on her head. Lucia groaned, following her brother. 

Alice shook her head clear. She needed to focus on the mission: Get into the Royal Archives, record all that she can on the Six Relics, and make it back to the meeting spot all without being caught. It was going to be difficult, but at least she didn’t have to act like one of the kingdom’s idiots for the entire day. 

Alice and her siblings weren’t… normal. In fact, they weren’t even  _ human _ . They are what are called Voidchildren--half-human, half-voicend. Though, only those higher up in the kingdoms are aware of their existence. Most Voidchildren had been hunted and killed off to protect the kingdoms, the few that remain disguising themselves as citizens. Some live normal lives, most try and survive on their own, while Alice and her siblings were favored by Inanis and worked as proxies of sorts. 

Inanis had told Alice and her siblings to go to the Xaravian Kingdom to gather information. Devin and Lucia were to map out the kingdom, and Alice was to sneak into the Royal Archives. Lucia, the youngest of the three, was jealous of the fact that Alice always got the ‘fun’ assignments, completely oblivious to the fact that they were incredibly dangerous. Alice and Devin were twins, though Alice was given title as eldest due to Inanis favoring her over her brother. She always felt guilty for that, but Devin kept reassuring her that he didn’t mind. 

However, there was something that separated Alice from her siblings and other Voidchildren. Unlike most Voidchildren, she had a fondness for what the world called ‘light.’ Voidchildren had no need for it, seeing as they were better suited for the dark and had night vision. But the fact that nearly all other species heavily relied on this seemingly simple thing fascinated her. It came in many different forms and colors, and illuminated the world in such a way that Alice couldn’t help but admire it. 

She’d often find herself stargazing, or watching a civilization gather around a fire and sing songs, or even giggling at a group of children using flashlights to create things with shadows. Whenever she wasn’t carrying out a mission, she’d be exploring nature and tinkering around with objects to see how they interacted with light. 

Alice sighed, desperately wanting to return home to her little cave and continue studying the phenomena of light. But she had to finish the mission first. 

She gasped when she saw a pair of guards approaching. Quickly, she turned on her heel into a dark alleyway, taking cover behind a small pile of crates. She clapped a hand over her mouth when she saw a beam of light fly over her head, clearly from a flashlight. 

“I could’ve sworn I saw someone…” one of them scowled. 

“Relax, it was probably just a racoon,” the other reassured. Alice listened closely, making sure that the sound of their footsteps had faded away before coming out of hiding. She exhaled quietly, relieved to see no sign of the two guards. 

_ Alright, no more getting side-tracked, Al, _ she told herself silently, hitting her head a few times, hoping it’d clear her mind. (She found urban myths and legends humorous at times.) 

She scanned the area, checking to see if the coast was clear before making her way to the castle. She had to hide a few times along the way, not wanting to get caught by any guards and risk failing the mission, especially after witnessing Inanis’ anger once before… 

**O O O**

Alice carefully walked down a long, ominous hallway beneath the ground floor of the castle. It was illuminated by evenly spaced torches that lined the walls. The sight of it nearly drove her to stop and admire it, but she remained diligent and pressed forward. There were countless rooms that she could only assume were used for storage. She didn’t bother looking in any of them, knowing very well that the Royal Archives wouldn’t be so easy to find. 

The hallway came to an end, a door standing before her. Determined to finish the mission, she opened up the door and took a step outside. A sinking feeling arose in her stomach at the sight of a wooden bridge that looked… rather neglected. Planks were decaying, some were broken, and it looked  _ highly _ unstable. She hesitantly took a glance over the edge, gasping at the sight. Not only was there the raging water of a river that ended with a waterfall, but there were rocks--large,  _ sharp _ rocks--jutting out, and there was quite a distance between the bridge and the water. 

_ On the bright side, at least it’s not a rope bridge, _ she tried to reassure herself.  _ I’m sure it has good support! … Hopefully.  _

She sucked in a deep breath, exhaling slowly, then began to make her way forward. The sound of the wood creaking and echoing into the wilderness around her, and the sound of violently rushing water beneath her made her feel  _ very _ uneasy. 

She was halfway across, and she was starting to feel more safe as there were no signs of it breaking. 

… 

There was a small  _ crack! _ that echoed around her, dread flooding over her. She looked down just in time to see the wood beneath her collapse. She let out a shrill shriek, screwing her eyes shut just before she was submerged in ice cold water. 

Alice coughed violently, desperately gasping for breath as she dragged herself onto solid ground. The rock she had surfaced to was cold, wet, and its rough surface scratched her hands. Her whole body ached beyond belief, especially her head. She took a look at her hands, wincing at the sight of golden scratches. She didn’t want to risk being found out, so she scavenged her soaked bag for a pair of gloves to hide them. 

Upon finding the gloves, she realized that her notebook that was supposed to be used to record the information she was told to find was completely useless. She began to panic. What was she going to do? How would she explain this to her siblings--to  _ Inanis _ ?! 

She paused, taking a moment to calm herself. There was bound to be spare notebooks in the Royal Archives. 

_ Wait a second,  _ she blinked, standing up abruptly, ignoring the pain that seared through her body as she did so,  _ where am I?  _

Alice had ended up in a valley-like area, the walls of a cliff surrounding her like a crescent moon, looming high above her. There was a massive body of water that mirrored the cliff, the waterfall visible not far from her. The kingdom’s walls could be seen in the distance, however the castle could be seen over the cliff. It was much larger than she had originally thought, though it wasn’t too much of a surprise--it was a castle, after all. 

She looked around for a way back up, the only passage sadly being an entrance to a cave, so she didn’t exactly have much of a choice. She threw off her cloak, not wanting the heavily soaked fabric to slow her down. She then adjusted her bangs to hide her eye, and tied up her hair so it wouldn’t get in the way. Finally, before entering the cave, she broke off a root of a tree that was sticking out between two rocks and kindled it to create a makeshift torch. 

She ventured into the cave, glancing around nervously, using the torch to light her way. She could hear the sound of water dripping, though due to the echo, it was hard to tell where it was coming from. The temperature dropped a few degrees as she wandered further into the cave, wrapping her free arm around her body to try and keep warm, though her soaked hair and clothing weren’t helping. 

Alice felt hope ignite in her when she caught a glimpse of natural light cascading down into the cave. She then frowned, noticing the ledges along that path that couldn’t be easily traversed by foot. She glanced at her side where her weapon was located, attached to her belt in its fully sheathed form. 

_ I guess there’s no harm in using it to get out of this cave…  _ she thought as she removed it from her belt,  _ s-so long as no one sees me, that is…!  _

She set the torch down, taking a few steps back so she had more room. She held part of the hilt in her right hand, then roughly pulled her hand down, the blade flipping to a horizontal angle. She grabbed the end of the hilt, pulling it behind her whilst holding the blade out in front of her, expanding the hilt. She then flipped the bottom of the hilt to a vertical angle, the holographic blade expanding from the metallic blade at the other end. 

_ All right, gotta make this quick. _

She pulled the bottom of the hilt out, revealing a sturdy black rope, grabbing the rope and spinning it in her hand before throwing the miniature blade at the top of the first ledge. She released her grip on the rope, moving her hands up to the hilt and pressing a button. The rope quickly retracted and she was pulled up, just as she was halfway up, she yanked on the rope, the inertia of the previous movement throwing her up to the next ledge. The rope fully retracted and she dug the holographic blade into the ledge, pulling herself up. 

She repeated the process once more before reaching the exit and she returned the scythe to its fully sheathed form, attaching it to her belt again. She carefully exited the cave, blinking a few times and shielding her eyes at the sudden light. 

Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she marveled at the scene before her. It was a hidden sanctuary, beautiful flowers and greenery intricately placed on each side, mirroring each other. A decently sized mansion lay at the end of the path, its design rather… common. 

_ Is this the Royal Archives? _ She questioned, expecting such a place to be more regal and flashy. She shrugged, heading towards the building and entering it. 

There were countless bookshelves filled with all sorts of books, as well as peculiar items littered around that were most likely tame magical artifacts. 

She then heard a loud  _ crash! _ coming from somewhere in the mansion, the sound of things falling over and coughing quickly followed. Smoke spread into the room she was in, and she shielded her mouth and nose from it as best as she could, using another hand to wave it away. 

A fairly tall black haired boy with bright blue eyes emerged from the smoke, coughing and wheezing, waving away the smoke himself. His clothes were scorched, his hair an absolute mess (and some of it was on fire). He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, navy blue khakis, and black dress shoes. He had steampunk goggles over his eyes, though the lenses were completely blackened. He hastily took them, about to use his sleeve to wipe them off when he saw her. 


End file.
